Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Get a 2000/2004 v70 with an na 2.4 manual. Can be had for nothing. Consider anything mileage wise. Must have leather, the cloth seats look and feel like a mechanics loin cloth after only a few years from new. The 2.4 170 and 140 use fuel much the same, the 170 can just about move out of its own way, the 140 is juat too slow for anything. Lots of low pressure turbos around for not much money, but like the diesels unless your friend is happy to do all their own fault finding and repair I wouldn't bother if serious budget is the aim of the game.